Celebrating Dundas, Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Coote's Drive, Governor's Road. Ann Street, Hatt Street, Desjardins Avenue. As we drive about Dundas in the course of everyday activities, simply reading street signs can begin a conversation around our community's history. The heritage homes, businesses and public buildings lining our streets offer beauty in their distinctive architecture. They also hold rich stories of the past. What do we see looking at our own home or property? Who have been their owners? What did their day-to-day life hold? How has our neighbourhood evolved over the years? Why?

Often we find that we have more questions than realized. Interesting questions. Determining their answers can lead to even more questions. An artifact can be defined as 'an article made, modified or used by humans'. Archives are defined as 'a collection of documents or records'. Discovering more about the spirit of Dundas past through historical artifacts and archives can be an intriguing journey.

The mandate of the Dundas Historical Museum is to collect and care for artifacts and archives which tell the stories of Dundas. The museum opened at its current site, 139 Park Street West, in 1956. Over the years, people have been generous in their donation of artifacts and archives which form the museum's collections. These items, part of daily life in an earlier Dundas, now tell the stories of those times through exhibits and programming for the enjoyment and education of our generation, and for those of the future.

Currently, a General Store, a school room and a dining room prepared for guests are among exhibits displaying artifacts used in the past. Antique toys and dolls invite us into the world of children. 'The Doctor's Office', illustrated in the drawing accompanying this article, is on museum's property. It too is an artifact. Of vernacular Gothic Revival style, and board and batten construction, the building is thought to have served doctors of the Dundas community continuously from the 1830's until donated to the museum in 1974 by Dr. Clarence Bates. Plans are underway to open it to the public.

Photographs, correspondence, newspaper articles, company records and family history data are among the contents of the Museum's archives. These documents are a wealth of information for both the casual and serious researcher. Often 'just that one piece of information' hoped for can be found. A broad variety of local history reference books are available. Resources geared to elementary school students can help with projects and the often challenging decisions regarding speech topics.

Maintaining - and celebrating - the unique identity of Dundas is very important to the community. Discovering more about the people and events of our past is a great way to do this. This column is shared by a variety of community heritage groups. Once a month the Dundas Historical Museum will have an opportunity to 'talk history' with you in this space. We are looking forward to that. We also look forward to meeting you at the museum. Do come and explore.

 

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